


A Friendly Face

by SmolPidge



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bartender AU, Ezor and Allura interactions, Other, but also platonic, could be seen as shippy, so you get to choose!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-08 13:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12254931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmolPidge/pseuds/SmolPidge
Summary: Allura is the only bartender brave enough to serve the mysterious visitor that comes in every night, but even she is taken aback when said visitor loosens up to her for once. In other words, Ezor is Ezor and Allura isn't sure how to handle it. Bartender AU with either romantic or platonic Allura/Ezor (you choose!)





	A Friendly Face

**Author's Note:**

> My gift for @googlyeyeseyes123 on Tumblr as part of the VLD Lunar Ladies Exchange. It's pretty short and a little late, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. Can't say I'm too proud of this one, but oh well. Hopefully it'll be enough to make you smile at the very least.

It seemed to Allura that she was the only one who wasn't afraid of the suit-clad visitor that came in every night. Granted, she should've been afraid. The woman’s air of superiority was sharp enough to slit a man's throat, and she always hid her expression behind large, dark sunglasses, even indoors. She was rather lanky and sported dark pink hair, but her aggressiveness was apparent from the get-go. She nearly always came alone, though there were a few times when she’d bring a companion or two, all of which were wearing the same exact thing and somehow beat her in terms of being intimidating.

The other bartenders would gossip about this mysterious client incessantly. Rumor had it that she was a gang member, or maybe even a high-ranking mafia official. They’d come up with lists of questions to ask her, but whenever she actually came, they refused to go near her, instantly shutting up and attending to the nearest customer dotingly.

"You know I'm so very clumsy," one would say unconvincingly. "If I were to mess up, she'd certainly pull out a gun and end me right then and there."

The rest would claim that they had children to go home to, or that their spouses had asked them to come home early for somebody's birthday. Still, until someone could prove that she was truly a criminal, someone had to serve her. Therefore, Allura always seemed to be the one to help her, no matter what area of the bar she had been assigned to that night.

She didn't really mind too much, or really, not at all. She treated her as she would any other customer, and in return, the stranger would tip big. Sure, Allura had no idea where she got all this money from, but as long as she didn't ask questions, she knew she'd be alright. Besides, she was positive she could make it out of a fight with her anytime; ten years of martial arts practice could pay off that way.

If her coworkers paid enough attention to her client, though, they'd know how easy it was to serve her. Her order never changed and she never asked for any refills. The only words she ever said were "good evening" and "thank you." She left as quickly as she came and never caused any trouble. That’s what Allura assumed it would always be like, so she was rather surprised when the visitor actually spoke one night.

“Glad you’re back,” the stranger grinned and took off her sunglasses to reveal shining blue eyes underneath as Allura approached her to take her order (not that she needed to).

“Huh?” Allura let out a small sound of confusion. It was the first time she had shown any emotion towards her, and she wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not. Already, she could feel the other bartenders’ eyes baring into her back and hear the rumors they’d surely spread afterwards.

“You weren’t here the last time I dropped by,” the woman cheerily explained. “I was going to have that be my final visit, but I couldn’t do so without properly saying goodbye.”

“Oh,” Allura came back to her senses. “Yes, it was a friend’s birthday so I took the day off. Sorry I missed you.”

“No problem,” the woman shrugged. “As long as you’re here now, at least I can actually get a drink. Without you around, the other bartenders are kind of a mess.”

“Yeah, they tend to be that way,” Allura chuckled. “So what will it be today? The usual?” Having initially been a little shaken by the woman’s unusual behavior, Allura had forgotten to ask what she wanted.

“Since it’s my last time here, let’s switch it up a bit, shall we?” the woman winked.

Allura stopped herself from reaching for the familiar bottle of rum just in time. “Got anything in mind?”

“It's a special occasion, so I’ll go with some whiskey,” the woman decided. “Might as well go out with a bang!”

At this point, Allura was growing a little suspicious of this lady. Why was she acting so differently all of a sudden? Why did she keep bringing up the fact that she would no longer be coming there? She supposed that the only way to find out was to ask.

“You said it was your last time, right?” she began as she searched the shelves for the correct bottle. “How come? And why so lively now?”

“My job requires I keep up a _certain image_ ,” the woman answered without hesitation. “Now that I’ll be moving out of the city, though, there’s simply no need. I was only ever here on business, after all.”

“I see…” Allura pretended that she wasn’t bothered by the woman’s nonchalant, yet implicative reply. She knew better than to make a big deal out of it, so she finished up serving the whiskey and handed it over.

“Serve yourself a shot too!” the woman insisted, suddenly snatching the bottle from Allura’s hand.

“I can’t do that while I’m on the job!” Allura snatched the bottle back, hoping that no one had overheard them, but knowing fully well that someone definitely had.

“There’s an easy fix to that!” the woman claimed, taking out her wallet and taking out what appeared to be some sort of business card. She handed it over to Allura, and all it had printed on it was “Ezor” in bold letters and a foreign phone number.

“Ezor?” Allura muttered aloud. “What’s that?”

“My name, silly!” Ezor playfully punched Allura’s arm, though it _did_ end up stinging slightly. “I won’t disclose whether it’s my real one or not, of course, but you can call that number anytime and I’ll drop by when I can so that we can share a drink.”

“And why should I do that?” Allura dared ask. She knew nothing about this woman other than her name (which was only a very recent development) and her latest behavior didn’t help to dissolve any of the theories surrounding her lifestyle. Besides, a number such as that one couldn’t possibly be toll-free, and being a bartender wasn’t the most well-paying job.

“Truth be told, you’re the only friendly face I’ve seen in a while.” Ezor’s face immediately changed from bubbly to solemn. “My companions are all great in their own way, but let’s just say that smiling doesn’t seem to be in their field of specialty.”

Allura wasn’t sure whether to be wary or not, but she couldn’t help but feel touched all the same, even if her words were actually rather odd. Either way, she always had time to think it over later, so she stuffed the card into her pocket for future reference. “I guess I can’t argue with that.”

Back to her cheerful self, Ezor downed the whiskey in one go, sighed in an exaggerative manner, and pounded the glass back onto the countertop. At that point, she was basically begging for the bar’s attention, and by the looks of it, she was avidly succeeding. By then, all eyes were on her and, by extension, Allura.

Attempting to discourage the unwanted attention, Allura acted as naturally as could be. “Anything else today?”

“I think I’m satisfied,” Ezor said, patting her belly for the effect. “I’ll be taking my leave now.” She then stood and put her sunglasses back on, which was the cue for everyone else to go back to minding their own business.

For Allura, that was a sign that she should start making a battle plan for what was to come once Ezor was gone.

Before she could come up with something adequate, though, Ezor called out from the door, “Don’t take too long in calling, okay? Romania is an awfully small place.” With that, she stepped outside where she could blend into the shadows once more.

As expected, the moment Ezor could no longer be seen, the bar staff rushed to surround Allura and bombard her with questions. Only after she _accidentally_ stomped on some of their toes and insisted that nothing interesting had happened did she manage to escape, taking advantage of her shift almost ending to clock out early. She may get a talking to by her boss the next day and her coworkers would then only crowd around her once again, but Allura wasn’t worried about that at the moment. She had to hurry home and find out whether her cell phone service supported international calls to Romania. Because, as much as she hated to admit it, Ezor was the first friendly face she had come across in a while too.


End file.
